With the help of an adjustable, common valve drive, which can comprise two cams with a different cam stroke, it is possible to operate the cylinder of an internal combustion engine in two different operating modes. If only a single cam is used instead of two cams with a different stroke and if base circle without cam stroke is used—instead of a second cam—the cylinder can be turned off with the help of the valve drive. In such a turned-off state, a cam follower, which is coupled to a gas exchange valve of the cylinder, does not cooperate with the single cam, but with said base circle, so that the gas exchange valve is not controlled.
Such a valve drive is known for example from DE 199 45 340 A1.
To switch between the two operating modes, a cam follower is adjusted between two axial positions in the case of a common valve drive. In the case of common valve drives, the adjustment occurs with the help of two actuators. A first actuator for adjusting the valve drive from a first axial position into a second axial position is used thereby. A further, second actuator is used to adjust the cam follower from the second axial position back into the first axial position. In the case of such common valve drives, it proves to be disadvantageous that they are constructed comparatively extensively due to the use of two actuators, which is associated with high production costs.